Nitro compound and process of making same



"UNITED STATES PAT NT. Current,

ROBERT o; SOHUPPHAUS,.OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK;

NITRO COMPOUND-AND PRocess'or'r'nAKmo sAME.

BPEOIFIOATIORforming partof Lettera'Patent a 514,838, dat ed February 18, 1894.

Application and. Jnly'fl, 1898.- smart. 450,192. (so npeoimenn.)

: To all. whom it mayooncernga Be it known that I, ROBER'T G. SoHI'iPPHA'U's,-; acitizen of the United States, residing in the.

city of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Method of Securing the Chemical Stability of Nit-r0 Compounds, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to produce a method of preventing the decomposition or of securing the chemical stability of nitro-compounds,-it being a wellknown fact that such compounds when sto"ed for a long' period of time often undergo decompositionwhich, slight at first, gradually increases until the whole compound has become more or less decomposed and otherwise chemically changed.

The nitratesof polyatomic alcohols such as glycerine and mannite and of related-compounds as. the carbohydrates for example starch, cellulose and the like, are especially susceptible to decomposition unless they are produced in an absolutely pure state, which is seldom the case-in manufacturing these compounds for commercial use; and whenever traces of acid or of impurities of an unstable character remain in the finished product, de-

-.'composition always occurs after the lapse of a more or less short period of time. To pre 3 vent this decomposition in the finished product of nitro-compounds, various means have been devised and employed as in :the' manufacture of gun cotton or nitro-cellulose, it is not unusual to incorporate a small quantity of an alkaline substance, such as silicate of soda, to the compound in course of its manufacture to prevent its decomposition; and in the manufacture of dynamite it is not unusual to add carbonate of lime or magnesia for the same purpos and in .the manufacture of pyralin, cellu oid, zylonite and similar compounds of pyroxyline and camphor, carbonate of magnesia is frequently added during the process of manufacture. In preparing high explosives diphcnylamine and aniline compounds with nitrous acid, whieh'is a constant product of the decomposition of these nitro derivatives, are themselves 'unstablein character, their introduction in many cases is inadmissible because of the discoloration which they are apt to produce.

' All of the above mentioned difiiculties and many others are overcome by the use of urea or carbamide as a ueutralizer, which substance I'havediscovered isaneliectual neutralizer of impurities in nitro compounds aud' abso lutely prevents their decomposition. In practice the nitrocompounds are freed as far as possible from all adherent acids by repeated washings, and they are subsequently dried, if necessary, after which I add the urea in suitable proportionsaccordiug to thequautity of nitro-compound and the purpose for which the finished product is intended to be used,the urea itself being dissolved in'a stable menstruum or flux compatible with the solvents employed in the respective manufactures of nitro-compounds which'solvents are usually methyl or ethyl alcohol. As above stated the quantity of urea which is mixed ditions above-mentioned and varies from one half per cent. (1} to two per cent. (2 y This solution of urea and solvent penetrates every particle of the nitro-compounds and.

neutralizes any acids or other impurities that "with the compound is regulated,by the conmay 'bepresent while the surplus remains evenly distributed throughout thewhole mass. The complete neutralization thus attained is an absolute safeguard against decomposition, but should however. any part ofthe mass be subjected to disturbing influences of any character and decomposition set in the additional quantity or surplus of the neutr izer, which as stated remains evenly distributed throughout the whole mass counteracts this incipient decomposition and prevents its spreading. tralized' in such compounds are sulphuric, m-

The acids which have to be neutrio and nitrous acids which may be found in faint traces in the adherent wash-water. As the nitrate and sulphate of urea are perfectly stable and colorless substances the product resulting from its use with nitro-compounds becomes absolutely stable, and no discoloration whatever occurs as with the use of the 8 amass substanceshere'totore added to preventthedefor which the resulting product is to be used;

composition of the nitrocompoundsas abovebut I mentioned. Furthermore as nitrous acid is What I olaimas myinvention, and desire to acts with ureain a remarkable manner, yieldsecure by Letters Patent, is-

5 ing carbonic acid, nitrogen and water, any ni- 1. In the process of securing the chemical r 115 aol that maybepresent or become genstability of nitro-compounds, the improveemted gfl c process'ot manufacture is ment which consists in adding to or incorpothereby rendered absolutely harmless. As rating therewith urea, as set forth. i requires a. minimum of oxygen to s set 2. As a new article ot manufacture an ex- 30 to complete combustion it is a perfect neu relplosive compound, composed of a nitro comnor in the manufacture of high explosives and pound having urea incorporated therewith, owing to its low molecular weight a smaller as set forth. quantity will neutralize a given amountof 3. Asa new article of manufacture, a py-' free acid than any other organic base heretoroxyline composition having urea mcorpo- 35 15 fore used for the same or similar purposes. rated therewith, as set forth.

- I do not limit myself to the quantity ofnrea This specification signed and witnessed this or'carbamide which may be introduced-into 2d day of December, A. D. 1892. the nitro-compounds for the purpose above" ROBERT C. SCHUPPHAUS. v stated, since as above-mentioned theflqnsn- 'In presence oty JO tity of urea will ,vary according to the char- M. GIBSON,

acterof the nitro-compound and the purpose E. MJTAYLQB. 

